Most pet owners know the problems associated with controlling the barking of a pet dog. Dogs naturally bark for many reasons such as to signal other dogs, to define their territory, to communicate excitement or fear, and to warn prior to an attack.
Where dogs are kept on large tracts of land, such as farms, the barking of a dog is generally not considered a nuisance. Instead, it may be regarded as a signal of an event requiring the attention of the land owner, for example, a person approaching or a strange animal in the area. However, where a dog owner lives in an area closely proximate to other people, the barking of a dog can become a nuisance to both the dog owner and the neighbors.
Various techniques have been developed to control the barking of a dog. First, the bark of a dog can be controlled surgically by the removal of the larynx. However, this solution is usually unacceptable to the pet owner as unnecessarily cruel and expensive.
Second, standard obedience techniques can be used to train the dog to not bark, but this is time consuming and often requires the presence of the owner to correct the dog. If the owner is absent from the home for long periods of time, such as at work, the dog may learn to not bark only when the owner is present, remaining a nuisance while the owner is away.
Third, a muzzle can be utilized to prevent the dog from barking. However, the muzzle must be periodically removed to allow the dog to eat or drink. While unmuzzled, the dog is not constrained from barking. The need for supervision prevents use of a muzzle for extended periods of time. Further, the intermittent bark control associated with the periodic removal of the muzzle, necessitated by feeding, provides opportunity for the barking to present a nuisance.
Finally, remote and automatic systems using various trigger mechanisms have been developed to control the barking of a dog. There are three main classifications of systems, differentiated by the input devices and signal processing techniques: the microphone input class, the piezoelectric input class, and the bark comparator class.
Systems utilizing a microphone input are typically the most reliable for discriminating between a bark sound and other false signals. However, to maintain this reliability, the microphone must be kept clear of debris. Additionally, microphone input systems are typically larger, more expensive, and use more power than other systems. Furthermore, microphone input systems are less weather resistant than other systems. Because these systems rely on sound volume, sounds from other animals and environment noises may inadvertently trigger the system.
Piezoelectric input systems are triggered by vibration and are smaller, cheaper, and use less power than other systems. However, the lack of sensitivity in the piezoelectric input results in a high false trigger rate and a low repeatability rate. Receiving a corrective signal as a result of a false trigger confuses the dog and hampers effective training.
Presently available bark comparator systems implement one of the above mentioned input devices coupled with a discrimination circuit which compares a previously recorded bark with the new sound. Accordingly, presently available bark comparator systems suffer from difficulty in getting a good sample for comparison and are not consistent in the application of the discrimination solution. Furthermore, dogs tend to have different barks for different occasions which makes meaningful comparison against the stored sample difficult.
The prior art lacks a system for controlling the barking of a pet dog which can be used at all times of the day, without the need for human monitoring. Further, none of the prior art devices filter extraneous noises and only apply a corrective stimulus when the particular dog barks in such a way as to trigger the system.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for controlling the barking of a pet dog.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a system capable of continuous monitoring without requiring frequent human intervention.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a system tailored to a specific dog and capable of filtering out extraneous noises such that the system is only triggered by a specified bark made by the target dog.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such a system that provides a corrective stimulus only to the barks of the target dog meeting specified criteria, thereby training the target dog not to bark.